‘NYPD Blue’ Sequel Pilot Ordered By ABC

With TV revivals continuing to draw strong ratings across all networks (the premiere of The Conners still drew 10.5 million viewers without Roseanne), ABC is looking to add yet another to the airwaves. Deadline reports that NYPD Blue, the long-running ’90s police drama, could make a return to the network soon. A pilot has been ordered that would serve as a sequel (NYPD Bluer?) to the original show. But be aware: Dennis Franz’s beloved Detective Andy Sipowitz would not appear:

Unfortunately for all Andy Sipowitz fans, in the sequel his character is dead. The return of NYPD Blue follows his son, Theo, as he tries to earn his detective shield and work in the 15th squad while investigating his father’s murder. Theo seems to have taken after his father as he too is a hard-drinking, hard-headed and quick-witted cop.

Apparently Franz was approached about appearing on the show, but wasn’t interested. In a statement, he called Blue “a high point in my life and career, and I think of it so fondly. I wish them all well and much success.” Sipowitz’s son Theo was born during the original run of the series. And the parental ties don’t end there; Jesse Bochco, son of NYPD Blue co-creator Steven Bochco, is directing the pilot. (He also worked on the original NYPD Blue alongside his father.)

The original Blue was known for its adult content — including some nudity, which was almost unheard of on broadcast TV in the early ’90s. In a post-Sopranos, post-The Shield environment, grittier, darker, naked-er cop and crime shows are the norm, not the exception. So it will have to hang its hat on great stories and characters (which, to be fair, NYPD Blue also had, even if they sometimes got overshadowed by the boundary pushing).